


In This Sea of Nightmares (I'll always find you)

by alecchii



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Blood Play, F/F, Succubus!AU, soulmate!AU, vampire!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 06:02:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16444217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alecchii/pseuds/alecchii
Summary: There's something wrong with Cheryl, and she seeks help through a sea of nightmares. Nobody seems to really listen except Toni.





	In This Sea of Nightmares (I'll always find you)

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first choni fanfic ever, it's so long i don't even know what i wrote. sorry for any typos, it hasn't been beta-read. i hope you enjoy !!

The nights in Riverdale had long become mere nightmares for the residents of the small town built on the Sweetwater River bank, and not those that consume you while you sleep and cause a cold sweat to run down your spine in dreams; but real nightmares, those that don't let you rest and force you to stay alert at dawn. Those that make danger slip down the tension of your fingers around a baseball bat. Others that wake you up and sit you down in front of a desk full of irresolvable enigmas that only your mind can comprehend.

Some nightmares simply chase you at home, justifying the evil caused by the meaning of the word family. But they would never be comparable to the reality of the southern part of the city. There everything was darker, less... human. As if half the people didn't deserve the protection clearly denied to them.

Because it wasn't the first night someone disappeared without explanation. Neither was it the first time that Toni felt that uneasiness, the ignorance of what they were facing. And maybe it was the paranoia that persecuted the residents of the trailer campsite that made an insignificant creak, turn into the soundtrack of an uncoming death. As if with every blow against the windows of her trailer by a furious nocturnal breeze, felt like the Lorca moon knocking at her door, condemning her to a nefarious destiny.

She carefully lit the lamp resting quietly on her bedside table; the only one who seemed to be able to do so. Her shoes, however, offered a little more resistance, as if refusing to step outside of her little shelter. And forcing the entry of her foot into her boots, the only thing that Topaz decided to take with her was her leather jacket, with the serpent embroidered and somewhat blunted at its back.

The flashlight on her cell phone illuminated the road, and in silence, little by little, a noise rose as she moved away from the safety of her home. The crunching turned into footsteps, and the whistling of the wind in moans clearly silenced by a second person. But even her common sense was telling her not to leave the caravan park, there was another more important reason to continue her march into the small grove between her and the Sweetwater River, and it was none other than the most important commandment of her community; no Serpent is left behind.

Because she was sure that one of their own was being attacked by the unknown presence circling on the southside a few weeks ago. Since every night, without fail, one of them disappeared with no warning ahead, or even leave a farewell note. And even though no one knew who was to blame, or if their victims had actually perished under their hands; they knew that the attacks were for personal reasons.

Nobody in the northern side, the wealthy side, had suffered such attacks. Unexplained attacks that everyone feared very, very deeply. Toni was no exception. She swallowed heavily, and once she entered the forest, she felt her heart quicken at the thought of someone stalking her.

And she wasn't that wrong either.

The first reaction after seeing Fangs lying on the ground, bleeding and immobilized; was running towards her. She dropped her cell phone into the pile of autumnal leaves that now covered the humid earth, and her knees nailed right next to him. She unbuttoned his friend's plaid shirt and saw how his grey tank top was soaked with blood... blood that nobody knew if belonged to him or anyone else. She brought her hands to his jaw and leaned his head to the side, before looking for his pulse. Then, without a light to illuminate the wound, Toni sensed her fingers sink into it.

A chill ran through her body, almost seizing her. She closed her mouth tightly and resisted the anguish rising up her throat. She wanted to part her fingers, hating the sensation of his torn flesh against the buds of the latter. However, she was determined to find his pulse, despite the fact that two incisions perfectly aligned with her aorta vein made this task much more harder.

Fangs, nevertheless, seemed alive.

She wiped the boy's blood in her own pajama pants, and brought the same fingers to the bridge between his nose, and his upper lip. Fangs' weak breathing, warm but inconstant, was soon the least of her problems.

A voice, irritating as well as mild, interrupted her procedure. "I'm done with him." Then Topaz turned around, contemplating the personified devil. A devil who didn't hesitate to wipe the remaining blood from the corners of her lips, with a delicate and slow gesture of her thumb. "But I can make room for dessert, if that's what you came for. I really enjoy chocolate cake... with a cherry on top."

"Who the fuck are you?"

Maybe that wasn't the best question she could ask. Because if the redhead standing in front of her gave her the privilege of answering only one of them, that wasn't the best one she could have formulated. Although it wasn't like Cheryl was willing to give her name to a stranger whom she only saw as another helpless prey.

Because Antoinette Topaz was completely helpless. If only she understood that the creature in front of her wasn't human at all. That she shouldn't worry if she carried a weapon with her, but about the sharp fangs that decorated her sadistic smirk. "I'm your worst nightmare tonight, cha-cha."

The opposite crossed her arms, totally unaware of the danger that the Blossom girl had just introduced. Her eyes only saw a teenage version of the Little Red Riding Hood. Her hood covered her perfect cherry ringlets and almost the lifeless look that her jet-black and dull pupils could offer. And the only thing that Toni differentiated in the darkness of the night, was the immaculate pallor of her skin, and not the incisors that peeked out from under her lips. "You're so funny, and as much as I enjoy typical nineties clichés, a girl like you shouldn't be wandering in the southside woods at night.

The moon, however, partially illuminated her face, darkening her half grin, turning her expression even more gloomy than the previous one. "Shouldn't you take your own words to heart?"

"I'm not your typical girl next door, unlike some northsiders."

And being she the time bomb used to exploding without a warning, she let the short wick of her polite kindness run out before Toni could let her sigh full of surprise escape her lips. With superhuman quickness, she positioned herself behind her and trapped her arms behind her back. Just holding her with one hand, covering both of her wrists as if her fingers were her unrequired handcuffs, she let her feel her presence, basking in the fear that finally took hold of her.

She hid her demonic face in her hair, letting her nose play with the sugary strands of her next victim. And inspiring strongly, she got intoxicated with her feminine perfume while discomfort ran through every inch of Toni. She hated this closeness, and hated feeling helpless. "What are you doing?" She tried to get away from that grip, but the redhead didn't even flinch. It was as if her fingers knew no other shape and had melted into the tan skin of her wrists. "The fuck are you doing?! Let me go!"

Cheryl's hand, the one that didn't keep Topaz still, slid down the other's neck, feeling her prey swallow hard. And forcing her to turn her face sharply, she let her brusqueness be the last thing she offered before going to bite her without compassion.

Compassion she didn't need to show, when she was interrupted before her fangs could even tear the epidermis that covered her pulse.

A shot in the air made her look up, staring right at the culprit of disturbing a moment so... private. "I don't know who you are, but I don't really care. You have exactly three seconds to get the fuck out of here before I kick your ass out myself."

"I'd love to see you try." With a sudden push, she threw Toni to the ground. And literally in less than three seconds, traveled those more than ten meters between the serpents' leader, the eldest of the Jones, and herself. She stopped just an exact second so her opponent could be aware of the non-existent distance that separated them, before taking the weapon away from his hands. And hitting the pit of his stomach with the shotgun's butt, then aimed to the boy who was trying to corner her from behind. "If your hobo son dares to take one more step, I'll fire that weird emo face he has."

FP's hand held in the air, as if that desperate gesture could also stop the creature in front of him. "Don't shoot! Jughead, step back, all of you, stay away from her." He raised both hands, surrendering. Little did Cheryl know that it would not be so easy as threatening the wrong person.

The redhead felt a sharp twinge in her shoulder, one that wasn't expected at all. Now that a knife crushed into the latter, piercing hardly and getting through not only her cape, but also her muscles; the grip on the weapon weakened, causing her aim to lose the usual precision. And in that brief dismissal, Jughead did something that could have cost him much, but didn't look like fate was going to retrieve from him that night.

He grabbed the shotgun with both hands and pulled, trying to take it back. And with a kick rushing against his abdomen, he managed to make Cheryl recoil. But she pulled the trigger before her fingers released the cold metal, soon burning in the form of a bullet breaking through Jones' side. Then, on his knees, he looked up, anger eroding his dilated pupils.

And despite what everyone believed, it wasn't something that the youngest Blossom wanted to have happened. Her eyes scanned the expressions of those who gradually began to surround her. And all of them, without exception, looked at her with hatred. Hatred and rage she didn't know she'd be able to keep under control.

She pulled out her fangs, reflexively and out of her hand, almost on an animal impulse. Then, with a thirst for vengeance and another kind of thirst that wasn't going to be satisfied that night, she promised herself, and the others, that they would regret judging her as they had just done. She pointed to the cause of the whole problem, the loose end, the unforeseen and the witness who should never have appeared.

Her grin, however, only worsened her verdict. "I'll come for you." 

Toni felt small, almost defendless.

"Mark my words, serpent." Her fingers clutched at the hilt of the razor stuck on her shoulder, and without hesitation, pulled it, unsheathing it in a clean cut on her skin. "I will come for you."

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

You could say that once the clock struck twelve, thus giving way to a new day, Toni's heart began to beat more strongly. Pumping the fear developed in her entrails, and spreading it throughout her body as poison gradually corroding her insides, paralyzing each limb in its path. Because she was paralyzed, unable to move from the bed; as if hiding under the covers was really a way of protection from the beast that haunted her.

Because Cheryl, even though she didn't know it was her real name, never told her which day she'd come back for Topaz, her revenge being even more cruel than any of the serpents had imagined. Because the insomnia she caused was driving her crazy. She hated not being able to sleep at night, and the paranoia was on the rise, making the curse that had fallen on Riverdale southside much worse.

Toni was now a target.

And tired, in every definition of the word, she knew that trying to go to sleep again would be useless, if her worries far surpassed her mental exhaustion. So getting out of bed, she went to the fridge, looking for caffeine to help her endure another night without being able to rest. She sat on the sofa, and along with the effervescent sound and the metallic crunch of the ring opening her Redbull can, she shared space with a second presence.

She glanced up, lazily, the weight of her eyelids being too much to keep them open for much longer. But when she soon realized that her attacker was sitting on the couch next to her, she let the drink fall to the floor, soiling the carpet. She blinked several times, as if she were still dreaming, and her personal nightmare had not become real.  
But it was real, and her decrepit smirk too, which had chased her all those days until she finally materialized in front of her. "I told you I'd come for you, and even so, you have not prepared the welcoming I deserve."

Her eyes searched for others, as if she could guess her intentions, thus anticipating her movements. But who was she trying to fool? She couldn't be ahead of someone who possessed superhuman speed. She swallowed, slowly sliding her hand to the drawer of the table behind her. And in search of the gun she always kept with her in case she needed it, she guessed it'd be useless; the redhead flushed that grin full of superiority, one that betrayed her previous actions.  
"You've got rid of my gun, haven't you?"

The other licked her lips, looking calm. "Also your knife... and your phone."

"Can I scream for help, or will you also take that away from me?"

"If you really want the others hear you and involve them, I have no problem with it." She pulled something from behind her back, effectively being the weapon that Toni was looking for before. She left it on the table, catching the look of the shortest one immediately. "But the last time there were weapons involved, your friend got hurt, so I guess you're going to stay quiet and do everything I say, if you don't want me to take out all the southside garbage in one night."

"What if I refuse?"

"I will slash your throat with extreme slowness, cut off your fingers and dip them in the bloody cascade of your neck like it were a nice chocolate fountain." She answered with an insulting euphoria in her voice tone, almost satisfaction. "And then I'll sit on your fucking couch with a glass of wine in hand, clearly served by the little blood that still remains in your organism, and see you bleed yourself out until death bit by bit." Hopefully, you won't last longer than three a.m."

Sometimes certain threats couldn't be taken seriously, and less so after being said with such ease. But Toni wasn't willing to discover the veracity of her words. "What if I comply?"  
"Maybe I'll reconsider doing it only to you, and not to your meddlesome little friend." 

"I know I'm not in a position to ask for anything... but don't you think that's a bit unfair? I mean, you leave me little choice."

Cheryl raised an eyebrow, curious. Toni wasn't afraid of her, nor did she show any signs of hatred towards her persona... although it wasn't like the redhead considered herself a person at all. "What do you suggest?"

"What?" Topaz seemed confused.

"You said it's not fair." She made her point clear, before standing up. "And I think it is, you were to blame for everything that happened last night. For me being threatened with a weapon, for being wounded in the shoulder when I didn't attack anyone, and for getting Jughead shot by accident."

"That's not fair either." She stood up too, even though she still felt inferior to the presence of others. "You attacked Fangs first."

"I don't know if you are aware of what I am or if those from the southside are always so high on jingle-jangle that you think it's a hallucination, but like any creature, I need to feed myself, and your friend volunteered."

"Volunteer?" The ironic and deafening laughter of the serpent girl combined with her eyes, which she rolled. "As much of a volunteer as the Southerners who have been disappearing these weeks."

"You're attacking me again and you know how it ends, and as much as it looks like I want to have this conversation with you, I don't." She crossed her arms, opening her mouth slightly to let her fangs show once more. "Are those your last words?"

"No, wait."

Toni weighed her situation, silently. And although it didn't last long enough for Cheryl to get tired of waiting, it was enough for both of them to feel uncomfortable for a moment. Then she knew, she had to answer. And she had to do it quickly, before the vampire lost the little patience she had left for her.

She quickly reviewed their brief talk and just a word repeated over and over in her head as if it were the key that would make her get out of that predicament. "I'll be your volunteer."

"Are you offering yourself as a tribute? Because it doesn't work like that."

She shook her head, and both of her hands, trying to find an explanation for her solution; one that could convince her that it wasn't such a bad idea. "I don't know how that weird vampire stuff works, but I do know I don't want any more deaths, and being a volunteer is the best thing that could happen to us... that could happen to you."

"Keep talking."

"You won't have to keep hunting snakes, I'll be available whenever you want, no violence, totally consented." She didn't really know what she was offering, but at least it caught the other's attention. "I'll let you bite me, drink my blood whenever you want, and hopefully I'll last a week until you dry me out."

She smiled sideaways, half convinced. "You're just buying time until you can think of something better that doesn't end up with you being dead."

"Try me." She retorted without thinking.

"I don't have to give you the benefit of the doubt."

It didn't seem to be the true meaning of her words. So daring to take a step closer to what looked like death camouflaged in one of her most beautiful creatures, she felt the need to show Cheryl that her offer was totally serious, even though deep down she didn't want that as her true ending.

The redhead raised both eyebrows, incredulous her victim's courage. That although it was something that made her respect the other, she also thought it was stupid. Like a suicidal attempt. Although her curiosity, nevertheless, was Topaz' best asset, and one of the greater weaknesses of the Blossom family. Motionless, she observed her subtle movements without wanting to interfere until she really felt the need to do so.

Toni's thumbs went up the height of her fangs, and without asking for permission, she let her fingertips delineate them with impudence. Soon that ended in a soft caress that came down the redhead's lower lip, descending to her chin. "Try me." She repeated, this time bringing a single thumb. And letting its sharp end tear her fingerprint, the flavor of her blood finally broke through the vampire's taste buds.

Cheryl's pupils dilated in her fierce gaze, one that seemed to be undressing Topaz without really bothering her when she did so. Then, that finger finally made contact with the other's tongue, pressing it slightly before deepening its entrance inside her mouth.

For a moment, an ephemeral instant, the redhead closed her eyes, letting a silent gasp escape her throat. And she enjoyed the taste of her blood. She focused so much on it that when an unknown voice wanted to pull her out of her reverie, a twinge of anger threatened to make her lose her composure. "How is it? Is it good?"

And after licking the last drop of blood from her wound, Cheryl took the liberty of taking out the culprit of her new obsession, from her mouth. "It tastes sweet, yet acid. Like jingle-jangle." 

For the first time that night, Toni felt she had the right to smile. "I don't do drugs, in case you're wondering."

"I'm going to do you, in case you're wondering."

While that took her by surprise, it didn't to the vampire right in front of her. Her eyes connected in a way that Toni didn't quite know how to describe. Because although their nervous pupils traveled to the opaque iris of her eyes, they also returned to their core and got paralyzed after entering such dark depth. Almost hypnotized by the complexity of all her features.

She licked her lips, distracted, almost unaware of what she was doing. And in search of the right words, she simply found herself unable to formulate a meaningful phrase, opting for an unnecessary question instead. "What does that suppose to mean?"

"You'll see, my new dear volunteer, you'll see."

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

Toni had kept quiet about the pact she had signed with the person, or rather the creature, who had been prowling her home looking for food. Because she knew that if she even mentioned it to any of her fellow serpents, they'd be totally against it. And even though no one had asked her to do so, Topaz was willing to sacrifice herself in order to stop the attacks against the people she considered her family.

However, many questions for which she had no answer, were the following reason to her usual dawn insomnia. She didn't understand why the opposite didn't bite her the same night she tried her blood, nor did she know when she would. But while she wasn't sure if she wanted her first time to arrive, she also knew that the waiting was much worse. She was nervous, anxious, with an unbelievable fear taking over her little figure.

What if the opposite changed her mind and Toni wasn't enough?

Though she didn't have enough time to torture herself with unanswered questions, now that the cause of all her headaches appeared before she could even make her way to her room. Toni wondered, at the same time, how Cheryl managed to get in without even going through the door. Or being polite enough to knock first, notifying her arrival.

She watched her leaning against the frame that outlined the entrance to her room, with a different expression than the ones she had shown her before. And while that look digging into her curves wasn't something that displeased her, she didn't know how to feel about it either. She didn't trust her, nor her intentions.

She sighed, dropping her shoulders in clear defeat. "If you aren't going to show up for days, you could, at least, tell me before hand." She was very sincere, tired of always be taken by surprise. Maybe she didn't need to be mentally prepared for what was going to happen, but Toni still had her doubts. "Besides, aren't vampires supposed to have to ask for permission to enter people's houses?"

"Someone has been watching True Blood, I see." Little did she know that Cheryl never had anything nice to say. "Which surprises me, I thought poor people couldn't afford HBO."

"Did you come to my house just to insult me?"

"Sensitive much?" She smirked with cynicism, still feeling the need to degrade her. Toni, on the other hand, decided to have patience for both of them, letting her silence urge her to continue. "I'll let pass your zero sense of humor because I know you're nervous, but don't worry, I'll be gentle."

"Won't you answer me?"

She reluctantly stepped away from the door frame on which she was leaning, rolling her eyes slightly. "Yes, I need an invitation, but it doesn't have to be explicit. When I told you that I'd come for you, I instigated the idea that I would find you anywhere you were in your head. And having you waiting for me, gave me enough invitation to enter your house."

She didn't know how she did it, but every time the Blossom girl opened her mouth, Toni always felt insulted. Although she didn't need to be explicit as she explained, the fact that she played with her mind only made her feel stupid. And that did upset her, pissed her off, infuriated her. "What if I, now, explicitly uninvite you?"

Cheryl was calm, but it was a disturbing peace. She knew she could only hope for a storm to come, and she was kind of right. Because, when the redhead finally decided to approach her, she could feel as all her imposing presence weighed her. And it was too heavy not to back away with just one step, a shy one, preemptive. However, it wasn't enough, not when she had her so close that she could almost smell death falling off each one of her pores. Her hand, cold and inert, settled on the line of her jaw, making her raise her face to look at her.

Toni felt the need to lean on it, seeking a warmth in the contact that she clearly wouldn't get. "You don't want to do that."

She was enthralled, as if the closeness between them could hypnotize her. And she did not comprehend; she didn't understand how it was possible for the contrary to submit her without needing to do so. "I don't want to do that."

"Good girl." She let the back of her hand caress her cheek, then slide to the collar of her leather jacket, slipping under her shoulders. Her movements, however, despite subtle and almost imperceptible, didn't go unnoticed by Topaz. She took her wrist and made her stop, not quite sure if she wanted to participate in what Cheryl was suggesting. She didn't seem happy about her resistance. "Do you want blood on your scam jacket?" She inquired, and by her expression, she knew she'd give in to her wishes. "Take it off."

And thus she did. Slowly, letting the sway of her shoulders be boldly marked in the air. Her eyes, as Toni had expected, followed that rhythmic movement.

The jacket fell to the floor, and an eyebrow rose instead, waiting for the next command to come out of her plump lips. She received a smile in exchange, accompanied by her next words. "Get undressed."

Topaz hesitated. "I thought I was offering myself as a volunteer for something else. This you're asking is out of limits."

There were two ways of proceding; the good one, which the redhead had tried against her will; or the bad one. Apparently, her victim had chosen already.

Her hands quickly returned to her figure, grabbing the collar of her t-shirt. And catching the fabric in both fists, she pulled it with a breathtaking force, ripping off the garment that covered her trembling torso. Because that made her shake in fear, being finally aware of who she was facing. She closed her eyes and stood still, not wanting that a single misstep could cost her more than Cheryl wanted to take from her. However, the opponent simply sank into her neck, letting the tip of her nose delineate precisely her accelerated pulse.

The opposite stayed there for a while, enjoying the rattle of her beatings against her swollen jugular. "I love the sound of your heart." Finally her tongue moistened the area that had called so much attention to her fangs. "I love the rush of your blood."

Toni swallowed hard. "Please, don't do this."

"Do what?" She asked, quite aware of the answer.

"This." She said, but knew it wouldn't be enough. "I don't want to have sex with a stranger who just wants to use me to satisfy her need for blood, I don't want to participate in your weird kinks, this is not what I agreed to."

"And what did you agree on?" Nevertheless, she knew the beast that now devoured her with her eyes, soon doing it with her fangs, wasn't interested in what ahe had to say. Because once she separated from her neck, her hands clutched at her shoulders again, searching for the straps of her bra.

She felt them coming down little by little, letting them fall to the middle of her upper part of her arms. "To be your feeding source."

The youngest of the Blossoms smiled amusedly, unable to believe her words. Unable to conceive that someone like her, a weak human who had decided to put herself at her service, could have the audacity to demand conditions. And yet, her idea of revenge didn't include forcing her against her will because, deep down, she knew that was the only thing they expected from her.

And Cheryl was much more cruel than that. "So you're saying you don't want to have sex with me?" Her tone was cunning, almost unnerving.

"I didn't say that neither." She wasn't sure what she wanted, although she did know that what she wanted didn't matter in those circumstances. "But I don't want it that way, not like that."

"Gross." Her hands slid up her shoulders to the edge of her nape, where they came together again. And after intertwining for just a couple of exact seconds and keeping it trapped in the web of her fingers, the latter finally descended to the marked bony crevice of her collarbones. "As much as I'd love a good fuck with your respective consent, I think you got it all wrong."

"Wrong?" She frowned, soon falling victim to her soft caresses, which made her tremble under her delicate touch. 

It sent a shiver down her spine, one that took long to leave her body. "I'm making your heart beat hard. I want to feel your blood boiling before I bite you for the first time." Toni swallowed once more, as if the only thing that Cheryl provoked were knots in her throat. "So stop complaining like a a five-year-old baby and obey before I take by force something you offered me."

Her tone was serious, more severe than usual; and that made Topaz understand that she should not play with fire. That Cheryl's patience was about to run out. So obeying this time without offering any resistance, she nervously took her hands behind the clasp of her bra. She let that nervousness overtake her, making her heart hit desperately against her chest, the same one that she exposed shortly afterwards.

The contrary took her hand, urging her to enter the room of her true owner. And once she was sitting on the edge of the bed, she let the girl in front of her continue with what she was doing, without her gaze deviating, not a whit, from her recent nudity.

Cheryl licked her lips, watching with desire the slowness with which the hands of others descended on her small body. She saw them touring around her torso with parsimony, circling her breasts and descending to her abdomen until they finally ended in the spring of her pants. And undoing the knot that kept them clung to her hip, her thumbs slid down the sides and pulled. Getting rid of that garment, she finally understood why the other was forcing her to something as coarse as undressing in front of her.

She was demonstrating her power. Keeping control over her, reminding her of what it meant to make pacts with an envoy of the devil.

Then, she showed how insecure she was, momentarily closing her eyes and trying to reunite some courage in her to remove the last garment that covered her body. She took a deep breath, feeling how her heart was reaching its own limit.

Her panties, however, offered no resistance. "Come here." She urged her closer, letting her teeth dig into her lower lip, still waiting for the golden skin of others. "Sit on my lap."  
Nodding once, she complied even though her body found it hard to move. With terror, and shame, she finally took a seat on her legs, trying not to let her gaze stray from her eyes, making the creature brefore be the only image in her head, rahter than her nakedness; one that she didn't seem capable of assimilating. Though she felt vulnerable after opening her legs, when Cheryl had them around her waist.

She closed her eyes, letting her eyelids be the only ones that protected her from the scene she didn't want to be starring. Then, she felt the opposite sink once more into her neck, so close to her pulse that she could almost feel her teeth digging into it. But she did not, and Toni guessed she was enjoying, once again, the nervousness that corroded her veins, and forced her heart to beat harder.

She couldn't keep her arms from wrapping around her shoulders when she felt the hands of others take her hips firmly, thus ensuring a point of support that wouldn't let her fall, and a closeness with the redhead that intimidated her. Then, the foreign lips finally settled on her skin, letting that uncontrollable tickling also infect the blood flow in her veins. The serpent girl felt her sadistic grin before Cheryl's kisses were present, preparing an area that would soon cease to be treated with such consideration.

Although Toni ended up opening her eyes, as well as her mouth, restricting a clear gasp that was lost in the depth of his trachea. The youngest of the Blossom's tongue felt hot, as if her licks were bullet wounds to burn clothes; while her hands, icy and rough, held her possessively in contrast.

When the other's fangs brushed her skin, it was at that moment, when she felt that her heart stopped for a few seconds. Because she was aware that such a bite would be imminent, and that Cheryl only prolonged the moment with the mere intention of torturing her.

And she succeeded.

Her hands went up her bare sides, finally separating from her and contemplating what she thought belonged to her. "I want to feel your pulse, and the one in your neck isn't enough for me."

Did not know why, but she felt the need to place one of her copper strands behind her ear, thus clearing her pale face. "And what do you suggest?" She asked with fear, but with a considerable amount of curiosity.

And now tugging her by her lower back, she let her face descend from her sternum to the valley of her breasts, creating a perfect straight line in the path of the tip of her nose. Toni lifted her chest slightly, not understanding why she was attracted to a contact she had previously refused. Cheryl answered, letting her words hit her skin. "There are different places in the human body where the pulse can be quite strong, like in your chest." Her tongue marked her presence, but never deviated to any of her breasts.

That one lick was enough to wake up every pore of her dormant dermis. Although the redhead didn't intend to stop there. She let one of her hands go in search of her opposite, and led it to her face once she pulled away from her bust. "Sometimes you can feel it on your wrists." Once again, she licked her skin without her permission, letting her tongue rise from the side of her wrist to her thumb, bringing it back to her mouth, letting the two of them be reminded of last night memories.

Cheryl felt her pulse on the tip of her finger, pressing on her taste buds. And although she would have loved to open another sore and let Toni's flavor drive her to an inexplicable ecstasy, she restrained herself.

She directed her gaze to the shortest one and contemplated the indecision in her eyes. She got her inner struggle and enjoyed it, as if torturing her only made her blood become even more exquisite. "But there is a spot that is my favorite. Do you want to know where it is?"

She nodded, letting hersefl get carried away for the first time that night.

The right hand of the Blossom girl went straight to the inner side of her thighs, in search of the strong pulse she had spoken so much about. And getting dangerously close to her uncovered intimacy, she finally reached the spot hiding in the crease next to her groin. Her middle finger passed over the most marked vein, while her nail pressed lightly on her skin in an ephemeral caress. "Very few vampires pay attention to such important spot, one that can provide us with almost the same blood as if biting directly on the neck."

Toni didn't understand why the vampire explained all this, when there really was nothing she could do with that information; however, Cheryl was very clear about her reasons. Her fingers never stopped the caresses on her inner thigh. And topaz knew better when her movements became more familiar than she'd have liked.

...Though she was getting into them anyways.

They were peaceful, with a circular pattern which had come into a loop clearly on purpose. "One much more discreet." Then, she pressed the tip of her fingers against her pulse, descending it forcefully, letting Toni feel her. She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip; Cheryl knew she had her where she really wanted. "One that makes your victims submit much faster."

Topaz felt her heartbeat speeding up and hitting hard; but not right in the pulse that vampire was massaging, but directly in her thumping core. A shrill moan was finally present, and the shortest one knew that she had fallen into her trap. "Submit?"

She didn't answer directly. "Remind me again what you agreed to, my precious volunteer." Her caresses on her inner thigh became more obvious, making it clear that all those movements didn't belong to that area, but to the one hidden between her folders.

Toni hated herself for what she was about to say. "I agreed to let you do whatever you want with me."

"Thank you." She said scornly. "Last time we talked, it seemed to me that you gave me your full consent, but tonight I felt like a liar. Are you calling me a liar?"

She shook her head, fervently, letting her desire, mixed with her nerves, get hold of her completely. "No, you're not a liar." She clarified with a thin voice, swallowing and moistening her vocal cords. "Are you going to bite me there?" She asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Though, right afterwards, there was another question that seemed more important. "Are you going to touch me like you said you would?"

"I never said I'd touch you."

And it was that smile, that smirk full of evil that made Toni understand, once again, that everything was part of a planned torture. A torture that had her on the verge of collapse, that confused her and didn't let her think clearly. She felt that pressure between her legs, one that desired to be relieved and wouldn't get what she wanted.

Without warning, however, Cheryl's hand reached out more than she had before, digging her nails into her bare skin. And approaching dangerously to her needy excitement, she buried her face for the last time in her neck. The gums of their fangs widened, and got ready for what they had been waiting for all night.

She bit her once, right next to her jugular, making sure she didn' open a wound in a dangerous area. And flooding her palate with the sweet taste that Toni could offer her, her opposite hand silenced her cries of pain. She covered her mouth consciously, feeling how the tears of the opponent rushed against the back of her index finger, as a barrier that prevented them from descending across her reddened cheeks.

It was an indescribable pain.

Nonetheless, she didn't know if it could be compared to the pain she felt between her legs.

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

From that day on, in which Toni admitted the creature's superiority over her, she finally began to enjoy their encounters. Like a hidden pleasure that filled her with guilt, but from which she could not escape... nor did she want to.

Because she loved how calmed Cheryl played with her skin, knowing exactly what to do in each moment, in each circumstance. It was as if the redhead knew her body much better than Toni had ever done. She knew where to leave each caress, where to scratch, where to bite and where to kiss her. She knew how to bring her to her climax without much more than the contact of her hands on her body, and even then, the only thing she asked in return was the submission that she had accepted from the beginning.

Though not everything could be perfect. 

As the days passed, and their nights gained more intensity than Topaz was used to, she felt fatigue begin to take its toll. Her body, anemic for all the times that the Blossom girl fed herself, had become much weaker than usual. It was difficult for her to stand up during the day, or even to wake up, since staying up late did not seem to help her in her daily life as a human being.

Because, when Cheryl was with her, any remnant of humanity left in her tiny figure vanished like the butterfly kisses on her neck before she bit her.

Although she didn't really worry about how much she could push herself to the limit, nor how much she could keep up still; but rather all the questions she always wanted to ask, and that she didn't utter out of fear of reprisals from the tallest. Because there were issues that ate at her inside, unfinished business and suspicions that she refused to believe.  
And no matter how much she wanted to know the answer to such questions, when she had the guilty of all her doubts in front of her, they soon ceased to matter. Because her hands, automatically, shed her own clothes and remained naked before her without needing to be asked to.

Toni knew how much Cheryl adored that power over her, and she was willing to give it to her if that made her be rewarded, as if she had forgotten the real reason she was a volunteer in the first place. 

A reason that the youngest of the Blossom reminded her that night, even though was spent like any other, with nothing remarkable or special to remember beyond the next conversation they were going to have. "Toni, I have to know."

"Know what?" She questioned, pulling away from the neck that now she had taken the liberty of kissing. They had reached a point where Topaz was also allowed to touch her.

Cheryl sighed, not amused after making the kisses on her frozen skin stop. "Why did you volunteer?" She asked with clear concern in her tone of voice, as if the attitude of the opposite didn't make sense to her. "Every day that goes by, you look worse. If I keep feeding on you, it's more likely that you end up dying. And even then you continue with this, you let me suck the life out of your adorable teensy body... and I'm not sure this deal of ours is still of my interest."

She frowned her brows, her nose, and all her expression completely. "Are you breaking up with me?"

The redhead couldn't help but laugh. "No, silly." She rolled her eyes, though she did it with amusement. "First of all, we have to be dating to break up; and second, I just don't understand why would you sacrifice yourself for the southside scum that isn't worth of you."

"I don't intend to make you understand what it means to be a serpent, no matter how much I'd explain to you." She sighed, finding herself cornered by her sudden inquirement. "We just take care of each other, and if this stupid deal with you makes you stop attacking my family, stop people from dying, I don't mind looking like a zombie twenty-four-seven."

"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand." She pushed Topaz's legs away, which were on top of her own. She stood up, quite mad. She really looked annoyed at what implied not stopping feeding on her. "Do you prefer to die in a horrible way for people who don't even realize that something is wrong with you? Has anyone bothered to ask you if something has happened to you lately? If the marks on your neck have something to do with the fact that no one disappears from the southside of the town? I thought you all were dumb, but not stupid."

"Calm down, my vampire baby." And even though Cheryl wasn't used to affectionate nicknames, she had long allowed Toni to call her whatever she wanted, since she refused to reveal her real name, her other human identity. "You have to understand that we are a gang, we don't ask questions, we just have our backs."

The opposite seemed to be getting fed up. "And who the hell bothers to have yours?"

In moments like those Toni knew that it was best to stay calm. Because if Cheryl did not maintain her composure, she knew that she could reassure her if she didn't lose her nerves too. So she approached her, taking her hands and forcing her to embrace her naked body. Hands that soon found their way to her firm ass, clinging to it again in the only way she knew how; possessively.

Topaz outlined a grin, aware that she had her right where she desired. Because despite having submitted to the wishes of her new nocturnal company, spending so much time with her had made her notice all of her weaknesses. "Have you ever worried so much about someone to sacrifice everything for that person... or vampire... or for any other creature you relate to?"

"Yes, you." Then, something happened that neither of them saw coming. Cheryl took her by the chin, in a hurry, like she didn't want anything insignificant to change her mind. And joining her lips with the others, she started a kiss they had never shared before.

Maybe they did have shared other kind of kisses; like those that almost always ended in Toni's neck, or in a materialized orgasm against the lips of the vampire. But never something as simple as that. Something so pure, so devoid of desire and evil, too chaste for Cheryl being part of it.

And Toni knew it, knew how much a gesture as silly as that kiss meant. So clinging to the fabric of another's sweater, she got closer, deepening a union that never lost its innocence. But when the redhead parted, the shortest had to emphasize the obvious. "You kissed me."

"I did." She smiled, genuinely, surprised by what she had just done. Soon her expression changed completely, showing an emotion that Toni had never seen before in her face; pure fear. "Oh my god, I did. I kissed you."

"Yes, you did." Topaz, however, seemed happy about what had just happened. "And it's okay, I mean... yeah." For a moment, both fell speechless. Although the fear in Cheryl's eyes alarmed her enough to know that they had to change the subject; not making such a big deal of something that actually was, for both. "But what were you saying?"

"I-" She interrumpted herself, something unusual since she always looked like she did know what to say. "I just said that I care about you, and it's true. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She hesitated a little, trying to suppress an embarrassed smile. "Even if I can only offer you my blood and uncommitmented sex?" She realized Cheryl began to feel uncomfortable because of how personal that conversation had turned, so, being both fully aware of her intentions, she decided to joke around just to ease the tension.

Something that Cheryl silently was grateful for. "Yes... you are the only thing I can consider mine, you are the only one in this town full of ignorant people that sees me as something more than a monster."

"I don't see you as anything more than a monster... I just don't think you are one." She clarified, letting her hands climb to her face now, holding her with affection, like she could protect her from whoever judged her. "You haven't chosen to be what you are, nor do horrible things in pursuit of your survival."

"You're wrong, Toni."

"In which part I'm wrong?" 

"I am indeed a monster." She licked her lips, forcing herself to control her emotions. "I'm like a plague that corrodes your veins and little by little it's making you sick. I'm killing you, and just to keep my word despite not wanting to." She opened her mouth, searching in the air for exact words able to express how she felt. "I don't want to lose you." She brought one of her hands to her own chest, like holding her heart in the air without actually closing her fist. "But no matter what I do, I feel like this isn't going to have a happy ending."

"But I don't want a happy ending."

"You don't?" Cheryl was confused.

Toni shook her head, finding her concern quite funny. "I just want to be like this with you. I like the reasons why I don't sleep at night, and why I'm tired all the time. I love having sex with you, and knowing that my blood is enough for you, that I alone can satisfy all your needs."

"You do, indeed. But-"

"No buts." She corrected, causing the youngest of the Blossoms to be unable to control her impulses. Her thin hands once more made their way through her body to end in her butt, digging her sharp fingers into her flesh, loving the contact of her smooth skin in the palm of her hands. She raised both eyebrows, and Topaz understood the pun in her comment. Rolling her eyes, she didn't hide her amused smile. "Do you think I don't notice everything you do to prevent me from bleeding to death? I've noticed that you let days pass between our meetings so I can recover, because when you come back, you're eager to bite me. You're thirsty. You starve because of me."

"You're not supposed to have noticed that."

"And you should stop treating others as they were stupid." She scolded her, but her affable smile prevented her from getting upset about it. "Most people are, but I'm offended you think I am too."

Cheryl opened her mouth, unable to say anything in her defense. She licked her lips, cut off by the cold of that autumnal night, before continuing. "So what else do you know, you tiny smartass?"

"I know this sacrifice is mine to make, not yours." She said sternly, without showing an ounce of doubt in her words. "You keep your word and don't bite anyone else, but starving yourself is a sacrifice that you decide to make, and in which I have no voice, so if I respect your decisions, I'd like you to do the same."

"But you'll die, Toni."

A grin appeared on her face, one that would soon be erased by someone else's lips, after a kiss correlative to her words. "You underestimate me if you think I'm that weak."

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

"Cheryl!"

Each syllable slid in an accelerated moan when she felt a third orgasm introduced as an electric gust unable to be controlled. Despite the irresistible pleasure and the forced perfect curve of her spine, her body couldn't help it but felt heavy, exhausted.

She shivered under the ginger's hand, which held her by the hips, pressing her against the bed. And even though she had felt her climax striking furiously against her palate, the younger Blossom showed no compassion for her victim. Her licks did not stop, and the tightness of Toni's limbs emphasized every tonned muscle in her small body. Her ecstasy was lengthened against her will, causing her to lose control, groaning, again, the name that had previously been unknown to her.

Because Cheryl never trusted her enough, because she was afraid of the unforeseen consequences of a serpent knowing her human identity, the noun that defined a second life that only northerners were aware of. But one day, like any other, it escaped her lips... and soon she knew that she preferred when it escaped from the others in the form of desperate gasps.

When the opposite finally fell faintly into the mattress, the redhead knew it had been enough. She crawled across the bed until she was lying on her side beside her, her head resting on her hand and her elbow on the rumpled sheets. Sh observed her inert figure, and then the lack of brightness in her natural golden skin. And after licking her lips, she sighed in frustration; a clear concern occupied her thoughts and betrayed her through her uneasy expression.

Although Toni didn't have enough strength to open her eyes, and notice that.

The tallest girl's fingers soon caressed her skin, in a vain attempt to restore the vividness that had once captivated her. Her fangs, however, made their appearance by pure instinct, as if they knew it was time to eat, despite the doubts that housed her. She ignored her thirst for blood and delineated, carefully, the other's ribs. That unexpected tingling aroused every pore of Topaz, forcing her to open her eyes at the same time. She cocked her head, watching Cheryl more focused on her skin than usual.

Instantly she knew something wasn't right. "What are you thinking about, babe?" Cheryl shook her head, as if she could make her forget that certain question, like that could replace the 'nothing' word. But Toni didn't seem satisfied. "Really, what's on your mind? You're quieter than usual."

"I can't stand seeing you like this." She deadpanned. Maybe sincerity wasn't something that always accompanied her, but when it did, she was completely honest.

"Like what?"

"Like this." She repeated, as if her condition was that obvious. At no time did it occur to her that perhaps Toni wasn't so aware of it. "You're getting sicker and sicker and it's all my fault. I can't afford to lose you, you know that."

She didn't hesitate to lie on her side, leaning carefully because of how difficult it was to turn her body, especially after what Cheryl had done to her minutes before. Her gaze went looking for her eyes, sinking into the dark depths of her pools. She saw her concern; she felt her concern. "No, it's not. You have to feed yourself, and there's nothing we can do about it. I told you this is something I want to do."

"But you don't have to." She rejoined slightly, letting her shadow cover Toni's face and part of her bare torso, thus leaving the faint light of the lamp on her bedside table behind. "I could feed on others, and come back here with you." Her eyes softened, almost as much as the caresses that her pale hand directed to her cheek. "I miss the flawless gilding of your skin and the lascivious glow in your eyes every time you undressed me with just one look."

"Cheryl-" She started firmly. "While it's true that I am weaker than I'm used to, I won't allow you to attack innocent people... even if it's for your own good- for our own good."

She pulled her hand away from her face, as if she were too upset to continue such an intimate act. Toni tried to grab her wrist in time, but her movements, at all, weren't paced with the speed of the opposite; however, it was like any other human reaction, one that anyone could have stopped easily. But for Topaz, even breathing, began to be a challenge every day that she spent with the vampire.

And that was exactly what Cheryl wanted to avoid. "Is it because I attack southsiders?" She asked, in the friendliest tone of voice Toni had ever heard coming from her lips. "Because I can feed on people from the north, if that's what worries you."

The opposite shook her head, although she couldn't see her since she turned her back on her. One that soon felt the warm presence of the pink-haired girl, who hugged her from behind without fear of being rejected. "You don't want to do that."

"Of course I don't, but it's the only option."

"Is it really?"

She remained silent for a few seconds, weighing her words as if they were the most important thing Antoinette Topaz had ever said to her. Then, mentally reviewed everything that had happened. How she had gone from wanting to take revenge to obtain what at first she considered a slave, rather than a volunteer. But their relationship grownth worsened, or improved, depending on which point of view it was analyzed. Because Cheryl didn't conceive a single day in which the opposite was not present. It was the only thing she now considered her own and if she lost it... well, she didn't want to imagine what would happen if she lost it.

Toni grabbed her chin, scared by the fact that the redhead had been silent for a long time. Anyone who had ever met her, knew that wasn't a good sign. So she pressed her lips with the opposite after her lack of words, sealing a union that Cheryl didn't see coming at their first meeting, and couldn't have imagined in the following.

Her tears, ones that Topaz had never had the pleasure or the misfortune to contemplate, left her eyes without even a previous warning. They weren't watery as anyone could have thought, but a strange mixture between her own blood and the human one on which she fed; or in this case, Toni's blood.

But even though they seemed to have been provoked by a burning sadness, it was not like that. Cheryl was simply... overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by all the emotions that sheltered her the moment she felt the contrast of her burning lips melting the gelid ice of her own. By the fact that she had trusted her enough to let her know her name, but not by the next thing she was about to suggest.

The contrary parted, not caring that her own cheeks had been stained with the bloodyness of her tears. On the contrary, her thumbs cleaned the red of her pale skin, despite only extending it along the line of her cheekbones. "Why are you crying?"

"I just realized something, something that scares me."

Her eyebrows fell sad, as if she felt helpless after the scene she had to witness. "Are you afraid of losing me? Are you afraid that in the end I will die because of you?"

"Worse." 

And although Topaz didn't understando what could horrify her enough to panic, or to be considered worse than her own death; she knew there was only one thing she could do. She gathered the few strength still remained on her and made sure to catch Cheryl in a kiss that wouldn't break for anything in the world. Her hands held her by the line of her jaw, and falling into the bed, she dragged her along.

That kiss, at first, was timid, as if the younger Blossom was afraid to hurt her. She pressed her lips with a controlled desire, which didn't seem enough for the opposite. She parted her mouth, letting her tongue made its way until through until it brushed against someone else's lower lip for permission. And she agreed, as if she needed that intruder to burn inside her mouth. Though in spite of the fact that her own moans wanted to compensate for the lack of Toni's, she could feel the lack of oxygen in her lungs, so her gasps were no more than faint sighs that could barely interrupt her kisses the way Cheryl adored.

She pulled away against her will, staring at the frantic fall and rise of her chest. It was hard for her to breathe, and she realized she had put her lungs through hell. "I can do something else, but I'm afraid you won't like it."

"Drinking the blood of other volunteers? No, truth is that I don't dig that idea." She replied with haste, almost hurrying to refuse something that not even the opposite had suggested. The latter raised her eyebrows, surprised. "I don't want you to bite others either. I don't mind if they are from the southside, from the northside, east or from another state." She looked into her eyes, with a previous suspicion in her own. "Just, don't."

For the first time, Cheryl felt she had the right to smile. "Jealousy doesn't look good on you, TT."

"I am not jealous." She looked offended, and that made the other laugh.

But Toni would never admit aloud she was glad that something as simple as foolish jealousy could make her smile. Because she had never seen the other so affected by something, and no matter how much curiosity ate her away and forced her to ask again, she had to contain herself. Since at that moment, in that exact and precise moment, Topaz only wanted to make her happy.

An odd feeling that she wouldn't have thought of for a million years, that she'd be able to feel for a creature who threatened both her and her family.

Sometimes she forgot what it really meant to be with Cheryl. But as much as she wanted to convince herself that it was a bad idea to keep falling into the diabolical trap that was her mere presence, she couldn't help it.

She couldn't help but desire it.

She licked her lips, insisting this time on what they had left halfway. "Are you going to tell me once and for all what is your alternative option or will you keep making me jealous for no reason?"

"So you admit it."

"Yes." She stole a peck from her. A little, tiny, chasty peck. "So...?"

She sighed, knowing that she had no choice but to confess the silly idea that popped up in her head. "I have healing blood, just a sip of it and I can make you look like before our sweet lady affair started."

Toni frowned, almost annoyed that she hadn't known that highly relevant fact before, even though i wasn't like that to Cheryl. "And what have you been waiting for all this time? It's not funny to have me at the edge of dying just to be on top."

"Like you don't love it when I'm on top of you." She rolled her eyes, not wanting to go too deep into her comment, since what she was about to explain was much more complicated than that. "I am serious, Toni, sharing a blood bond is much more complex than it seems for a simple human. It is a physical connection, a connection that cannot be broken."

And even though the serpent girl really couldn't fully understand what that meant, she got an idea of why Cheryl was so scared. Perhaps it was much harder to explain, but the shorter one had a fairly appropriate summary. "It sounds to me like you'd rather let me die than be honest and admit you have feelings for me. Not cute, Bombshell."

"I do have feelings for you." Toni seemed surprised; she didn't expect her to say it out loud, no matter how honest it was. "Weird, incomprehensible, disgusting, probably human-like feelings, but feelings after all." Her eyes, this time, didn't show off the common self-confidence she usually had. "You make me feel alive again, Toni."

"Where is the problem, then?

Cheryl looked confused, so she frowned. "I just told you a hot vampire like me have feelings for you, to weak yet beautiful human, I am telling you that once we share this bond, there is no going back.

"And...?" Toni finally sat on the bed, staying cross-legged on the mattress, trying to take a more appropriate position for a conversation so serious, however much she made the other felt like she wasn't taking it as such. "Look, Cheryl, you may know a lot about vampires and how that weird blood stuff work, but I know more than you do about people. And you know what? I don't need to drink your magic blood to know that you and I we have created an unbreakable bond."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She answered softly, as if the opposite was really the one on the verge of fainting. Both had gone through a lot, and that translated into the decadent image reflected in the glow of their charred orbs. Topaz looked for the other's hand, taking it with her two peers and playing obnoxiously with her fingers. "For me, our physical connection has been every night that I let you into my bed, the first time we kissed. When you stay a few minutes more by my side before I fall asleep, embracing me, making sure that I make it through one more night."

She didn't really know if the blush on the vampire's cheeks was because of an embarrassed blush, or if her pale skin had become a perfect blank canvas for the red of her tears, still clinging to the tightness of her cheekbones. And Toni wanted be make sure, brushing her thumb in order to erase any traces of sadness on her face. Fearless, she broguht her thumb to her mouth, tasting every feeling Cheryl was talking about.

The contrary swallowed heavily, letting her continue. "And honestly, what do you think forever means? I'm not immortal, and I already agreed to be by your side until my body wouldn't be able to endure it anymore." Again, her opposite thumb wanted to clean the burdeaux that burned on the face she adored so much to contemplate. "That's my forever, Cheryl, until death brings us appart."

"But I thought you were only doing this to save your family."

For a moment, she felt lacking in excuses to justify something they both knew. "Fair point." So agreeing, she felt she had just lost the right to touch her; and the youngest Blossom missed her warm contact. "But you said it, all this volunteering was just a way to buy time, and you gave me time, plenty of it."

"Have you come up with a solution already?" Toni's side grin was something Cheryl treasured, although she didn't always say it out loud. She watched the curve of the corners of her lips, at the same time as the slight rise of her cheeks. And biting her lower lip, she soon returned the gaze to her eyes.

"I've realized that I never wanted to find a solution, so nope." There were sincerity and no concern in the tone of her voice. "I want you to still be a problem- my problem. I want to be with you no matter what it'll cost me."

"You can't say I didn't warn you."

"You can't regret it either."

Both challenged each other with their eyes, as if permission and verbal consent really meant nothing to a creature like Cheryl; as if that vampire was unable to believe words that sounded so sweet, as unlikely as any other fairy tale. Although she was tired of being her own impediment, of resisting something that almost Toni seemed to be begging for.

And she'd lie if she said she wasn't hungry.

Thirsty.

Her fangs coursed through her own gums, not giving her teeth enough time to prepare for their arrival. Impatient, they made the apparition that had taken so long, gleaming and dazzling, as if the dim light that illuminated the room had focused on them fully. Her pupils dilated, which was enough signal for Topaz, who knew what their next destination would be.

She intended to turn around, push her hair back and give her favorite nocturnal beast enough room to bite; but that never happened. Instead, the Blossom girl took her hand and forced her to stop. "Don't turn around." She said in a shy whisper. "I want you to look at me."

However, no matter how much evidence pointed to the opposite, the taller one wanted to take it calmly, ignoring the desire that burned in her guts. She buried her face squarely in her neck, leaving wet kisses all over her skin. And even if she didn't have a full view of what was going on, Toni could feel her fangs partially tearing at her epidermis, sores that were soon rescued by an anxious tongue. She moaned lazily, exhausted for everything that had happened that night, all those days, and for what was about to happen.

But before she could gather enough strength to gasp properly, her lips were caught by the opposite. She felt the entrance of her slimy companion in her mouth, savoring the metallic touch of her blood on the tip of her tongue. And her kiss was corresponded, with all the energy that her small body could gather in so few seconds of truce. But after she clung to her shoulders, Cheryl thought she had played enough with her breathing.

She pulled away, making sure to bite her lower lip beforehand, dragging it with no compassion whatsoever. Her fangs pierced very close to bothof her commissures, opening a wound deeper than planned. But Topaz didn't mind, since the burn caused soon would be forgotten. The pain was nothing compared to the carnal desire that had possessed her now.

They kissed again like there was no tomorrow, as if the only night that counted was the one they were sharing. Although Cheryl realized that, little by little, Toni was running out of breath. And slowing her kisses, feeling how the other exhaled through the nose against the bridge of her lips, she let her catch her breath without parting.

Then, after a few sloppy kisses that never wanted to end, she finally felt the tongue of the Blossom girl trying her once again, teasing herself with small samples of her blood. A tongue that soon exitted and drifted down to her throat, outlining her eve's apple conscientiously, feeling how Toni swallowed saliva in the process of undoing a horrible knot clinging to her vocal cords. Which vibrated, letting out silent gasps that soon increased in volume.

And massaging her breasts while her kisses devoted the necessary attention to her sternum, she knew it was the perfect time, that exact moment, her fangs would finally calm her thirst for blood. The vampire took her hand, raising her arm and leaving it straight, clearing her goal; her wrist. A simple glance was what she needed to contemplate the serenity on her face, a gesture that gave her the necessary permission to continue; but Cheryl didn't want to leave it there. She rose her own wrist to Toni's face, who stared at her atonishingly. She nodded, making her understand her suspicions were correct; she wanted her to bite her too.

It wasn't until the redhead felt real pain, that she dared to replicate it. It was hard for Toni to stop showing consideration since she didn't want to hurt her. But that was the last of Cheryl's worries. And while her skin finally gave into her volunteer's bite, her fangs made their way through the capillary debris that wrapped the veins of her wrist. Her palate flooded with the other's blood, letting every nook and cranny of her body react to the sweet yet acid flavor the southsider could offer her.

She enjoyed it until Topaz allowed her, since she soon realized how the girl's bit lost strength on her wrist plus how the intense pain caused by the shortest, became a simple, totally bearable burn. She took the openest wound to her mouth, making it worse with her own fangs, letting both her vampiric blood and the human one remaining on her lips and chin, mix in the cocktail that would restore vitality to the person she cared about the most.

Toni sucked almost faintly, allowing the forbidden Blossom poison to become the vaccine that would save her from the very disease. And although she wasn't used to its density or the strange sensation of that thick liquid sliding down her windpipe to her stomach, she couldn't say she disliked it. She didn't like it either. She had so many emotions mingling with one of her five senses, that she just let herself go, Cheryl's blood fixing what her needs made to Toni's body day after day.

She'd lie if she said she didn't start to feel better, thus regaining control of her whole body. Clinging to the other's wrist, she got drunk on her new addiction now. And even though Cheryl knew it was enough, she let Toni enjoy, compensating her for all the days she had been feeding on the other.

A guilty smile appeared on her face, once her eyes saw the funny expression of the vampire, who was aware of the fact something like that would end up happening; Cheryl Bombshell was irresistible in every aspect of the word. She apologized, though she was soon silenced by a kiss, one that seen by any other, could have been horrifying in all its splendor. Because their lips felt sticky, hot; their bodies moved clumsy and their kisses, desperate, failed every time they wanted to collide against the mouth of others, staining so much blood on their facial features. Their tongues, almost petrified by the silver that now wrapped around them, intertwined anxiously, thus sealing themselves in an unbreakable tie.

Cheryl made Toni hers that night for the first and, ironically, the fourth time.

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

They had spent so many nights together, that Toni had almost forgotten how Riverdale looked during the day. She had almost forgotten her friends' faces, even her serpents'. Forgot how felt the cold autumn breeze blew from the riverbank hitting her cheeks early in the morning. Instead, every time she thought she was going to sleep, she ended up thinking of the grim smile that still looked adorable to her, despite being decorated with sharp fangs, which broke slightly with the perfect symmetry of her teeth, as infiltrated in the troops of her firm soldiers of ivory.

Honestly, every time she remembered all the memories they shared, her body reacted strangely. Like answering the call, as if it was magnetized to that creature's cherry veins. Hier desire flamed in her chest, between her legs, and more surprisingly, in her throat.

Toni needed Cheryl's blood almost as much as Cheryl needed hers.

That's why feeding had become Topaz's favorite part of the day. The sex had long been put into the background. Do not misunderstand her; the shorter girl loved to succumb under the sculptural body of her beast, both nocturnal and between the sheets; but that connection had another different meaning. Purer, more sincere.

More animal, and even then, more human.

She stretched her neck to give her more space even if Cheryl had bitten her between the latter, and the inmaculate curve of her shoulder. A wet lick from her open wound arrived at the back of her earlobe, and thus a malicious smirk appeared on Topaz's lips, one the redhead couldn't contemplate, being right behind her. Toni, however, was between her legs, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, with only a pair of panties covering her chocolate body.

She moaned softly once she felt the opposite's hands travel across her bloody body, stopping just below the cup of her breasts, delineating her skin with the tips of her fingers, drawing the outline with the red in the edge of her nails.

She had given Cheryl the power to do whatever she wanted with her body, but that didn't mean she had lost control. Toni had her butterfly knife in her hands, playing with it while letting the vampire feed on her. From time to time she left partial cuts on different parts of her fingers, calling the redhead's attention more easily than expected. Rising her hand over her own shoulder, she diverted her kisses to the dripping blood of her phalanges. Cheryl brought them to her mouth, tasting Topaz in every way possible.

Toni felt close to her, more than she had ever felt to another person. And maybe it was because of everything they went through together, because she was convinced that it didn't matter what could occur in an uncertain future; she had to ruin the moment with questions that were best not to answer. "Babe, I need you to be honest with me." She released her fingers, clicking her tongue immediately, frustrated at being interrupted; the smaller one went on. "We've never talked about this... but what did you do to all the missing serpents?" She hesitated, licking her lips in a fully deserved pause. "Did you... kill them?"

She buried her face in her back, kissing her spine, feeling each bone against her lips. "Does it matter? I thought we had already got over it."

"It does matter, it's important to me." And despite wanting her voice to be dry and static, a chill ran through her body, causing her to lose the little seriousness influencing her words. "I'm not going to let your past ruin our future, but if I'm going to forgive all the damage you did to my family at least I deserve to know what happened."

"Do you think you're the only one who has to forgive so much damage?" She pulled away, more annoyed than Toni expected. She turned partially, looking for Cheryl's eyes even though she was avoiding them. "Your hedious gang took away the only good thing in my life, and I'm not going to let them do the same thing again."

"Come on, babe-" She interrupted her, glaring at her angrily.

Cheryl didn't seem to want to hear more 'babes', least in that context. "No." It was dry, an unusual tone even for her. Since her voice, if not soft and sympathetic in the only way she knew how speak to Toni, used to have a provocative tone, something that urged you to reply. But this time it wasn't like that; the redhead intended to be sharp. "You don't ask me what I did to your stupid friends, and I don't ask you if you had anything to do with JJ's death. That's the deal."

"Who?"

"Jason Blossom." Her jaw trembled, and Topaz wasn' sure if it was because of the sadness that paralyzed her muscles, or the uncontrollable anger that boiled her blood. "My father forced him learn to feed on his own for the first time, and he sent him here, to the southside, away from Thornhill. Poor JJ didn't know how to do it properly, so the first time he bit someone, he almost ended up taking his life. But it wasn't his fault, it never was. He came to my room that night and cried, slept in my bed and I comforted him; but daddy didn't show as much mercy as I did."

Toni shocked, remembering the end of her story. "The vampire who attacked Peabody came back next night after that, and the serpents took revenge on him."

"The animals you call family murdered my brother."

Cheryl got up, walking away from Topaz in order to hold her feelings, not letting the wall that never let her collapse, compromise her whole self. She wiped the pair of tears from her pale eyelids and before she could turn her back on her, the shortest grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "I know you're upset, Cheryl, but to avenge Jason in the same way doesn't do you any better, on the contrary, it only give us reasons to try to defend ourselves."

"You're wrong if you think I'm like the crimminal junkie-junk you surround yourself with." She hadn't chosen her words well, and saw it in the offended look of the opposite. But the youngest Blossoms had the fully right to let her disappointment obscure any other emotion. "And I plan to clean Riverdale of all those dirty snakes." She slapped her hand away, which still held her wrist. "Not even you can stop me."

Any contact that could previously hold them together disappeared. "And that gives you the right to kill whoever comes to your liking?" Her voice rose in reflex, needing to impose herself before the devil who soon began to show her true facade. "We didn't attack you, we didn't want this. Every Blossom believes they own others, that you can do whatever you please, but you're so wrong."

"Like you know anything about the Blossoms." She took a step forward, letting her height difference be threatening enough. "Like you know anything about me." Hir hand grabbed her jaw violently, looking at her with disdain. "You're just like them, and I regret seeing something special in you."

And when she released her chin with disgust, Topaz felt a unknown twinge in her chest. Her thorax felt empty, like a black hole had broke through her heart and was devastating everything around. Her lungs prevented her from breathing; her vocal cords prevented her from speaking for an ephemeral second.

She swallowed heavily, her saliva not falling into her stomach, being absorbed by that deep darkness on her insides. "Proudly so. I am a serpent, and I will always do what I can to protect my own." She struck her fist in the air, just the one holding her knife, unsheathing its blade.

"I thought I was something of yours too." The grip on the hilt of her weapon softened, but her position didn't change. Despite being half naked, she wouldn't let the fragility of her abused body make her think she wasn't willing to defend herself. "Because even though I let you know all about me, you still think that I am this loveless monster. Because even though I let you see my true self, you still think I'd kill someone in cold blood."

She opened her eyes wide, not knowing what to believe. "You didn't?"

"Does it matter?" She chuckled cynically, as if she had just surrendered. Not worth to keep striving to defend herself, when the sentence was final. "You think I did it, when I showed you I wouldn't. I couldn't shoot Jughead, or anybody else, I couldn't let you die. From my point of view, the only monsters here are you people. You all judge me without bothering to find out the truth."

"The only thing I want is the truth, Cheryl." She threw her razor to the ground, not caring where it fell. Venturing to take two steps, she closed distances. None moved, and for the first time Toni was afraid to touch her. "But this is what happens when you're not honest with me. I suppose things I don't mean to." She brought her own hands to Cheryl's face, and held it with the greatest delicacy in the world. The redhead could try to look as strong as she wanted, but deep down, they both knew how fragile she was. "I'll answer you first; no, I had nothing to do with Jason Blossom's death. But tell me, have you killed any of the serpent members of my family?"

"No, I didn't."

That was all she wanted to hear. All she needed was proof that everything she felt for her was not a farce by planned manipulation. Toni believed in her words, and even if anyone else would have; there was nothing that made her change her mind. She closed her eyes, repressing some embarrassing tears, returning to find the icy contact of her skin even though it burned like the flames of hell Cheryl had escaped. She pressed her forehead against the opposite, and after letting a nervous sigh hit her bloodied lips, she hurried to kiss her.

A kiss that never landed.

A great rumble made her open her eyes, and separating completely from the younger Blossom, she watched how her biggest nightmare came true. A secret that was never meant to be discovered, ceased to be so. And seeing with difficulty a few of her people among the crowd that made its way to the living room of her trailer, her eyes finally returned to the source of all her concern.

Cheryl's expression, petrified, remained etched in her memory. Her eyes were wide open, as her mouth did, while a muted horrorified scream drowned in the blood of her throat. Her watery pupils descended to her bare chest, witnessing the first sparks that burned over the exact position of her heart.

And wanting to know who was guilty of stabbing her heart without showing any mercy, her eyes searched like crazy for the figure now hidding behind her. She only visualized a feminine grin, so macabre that she managed to make her feel each and every one of her fears. And with the devil itelf standing before her, she didn't hesitate to protect Cheryl from it, hugging her tightly.

So tightly that she crumbled into ashes, sliding down her fingers like the sand of the clock that stroke the end of her existence.

 

 

\- - - - - -

 

 

Toni woke up suddenly, at the same time that her heart stopped for almost a perfect second. She opened her eyes and forced herself up suddenly, as if an electrical impulse had straighten up her spine at its fullest. Her hands patted her surroundings, looking for a presence that wasn't real anymore. She wiped the cold sweat that fell down her forehead, and also the two tears that rested on her cheek. And still getting used to the new light now coming through the windows, a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

Sweet Pea was standing at the door of her room, leaning against the frame. "Toni, you've fallen asleep."

"What?" She didn't understand very well what was happening. "What's wrong?"

"We said we were going to protest against Pickens Day, have you forgotten? How General Augustus Pickens murdered all the serpents' ancestors, the true founders of the town, to now pay tribute to him because of the Blossoms?"

"Wait." Her head hurt. "Did you say Blossom?"

"Yes, like the kid who got killed." She snapped her fingers in front of him, trying to get her attention; Topaz didn't look that awake. "Come on, Toni, we had this talk with your grandpa two days ago, this was your idea, and Jughead's." He pushed her covers away, not caring that it was one of those nights when the shorter one slept with just a shirt covering her tiny body. Then, he passed her arms under her armpits and in a clumsy embrance, pulled her out of bed. "So don't you dare to dump us, I've got up early because of you and now you're going to."

She kicked in the air, trying to get away from him, quite annoyed. She didn't like being treated like a potato sack. "Fine! But let me go! I have to change first." And once her feet finally touched the ground, she shook off her shirt, covering herself as much as she could. "I'm not going to show up with no pants-" She hit his shoulder, harder than Sweet Pea expected. "And don't ever come into my house without knocking first!"

She waited until the boy left her alone, getting into something decent before leaving her trailer. And finishing an outfit that was thought to the millimeter, she finished putting on her serpent jacket, thus dulling any other garment that could define her personality. Then put on high synthetic leather boots, and picked up a couple of things before going to the town square.

Although, if she was honest, she didn't want to. She was still confused enough with everything that had gone through her mind the night before, as to worry about something other than the most vivid nightmare she had ever had. Cheryl Blossom had occupied her thoughts at dawn, and were ready to take them over for a whole morning too.

She walked around the place and while everyone dispersed to take a look before the protest march, enjoying the solitude to think, which Sweet Pea had deprived her from very early.

She wandered from stand to stand, watching with some displeasure how the northsiders had fun at the expense of a party based on the largest Riverdale massacre. Although those looks were returned to her, since her jacket was the only thing seen on the peripheral view of those snobby northsiders. That was the only thing that made them different, and supposedly gave them the right to prejudge her.

However, among all those stares that Toni soon learned to dodge for the sake of her mental health, there was one that caught her attention.

A tall, stunning girl was standing there looking at people with no one to keep her company, even though anyone would have loved to volunteer. Among the crowd, her cherry waterfall hair stood out above any other busy person. Her skin, white and warm like her smile, shone through sunshine; and then Topaz knew that she'd recognize such beautiful features a mile away. But she had this vague feeling of having seen her face hundreds of times, but didn't really know who she was.

She stared perhaps more than she should, forgetting the subtlety that should accompany the certain visual stalking the stranger was submitted to. And like it was getting usual that morning, another person interrupted the image of the girl of her dreams. Jughead had corn in his mouth, unable to chew first before speaking. "Mesmerized by the Bombshell mermaid, Toni?"

"What?"

"I know your more into girls, but I thought you had better taste." He commented, as if someone really wanted to hear his opinion. "How come you know Cheryl?"

"I don't, actually."

He laughed, for the first time making one of his actions a priority rather than the simple act of eating. "So you only look at her because she's pretty? She is indeed, but that's all, there's nothing more you can admire about someone like her. Did you know she calles herself high bitch in charge? She's such a cliché out of the Mean Girls movies."

And although Toni liked to make fun of the northsiders almost as much as any other serpent, that day his comment wasn't as funny. It wasn't like she was paying attention to him anyways. "No, Jughead. You know I don' stare at pretty girls like a creepy stalker, that's not my style." Finally, she looked away from her, only to address hers to her friend. "But I've seen her before."

"No wonder, her brother is Jason Blossom. She was everywhere some months ago." Now, the other was the one losing interest in that conversation. He didn't usually focus his talk on Cheryl, nor did he think he'd change that soon. "But after the case was closed, she suddenly vanished."

She wanted to tell him that she wasn't talking about that, the only place where she was sure she had seen her was in her dreams; though she supposed that would only make him laugh at her. Besides, she was more interested in what Jughead had just told her. "What do you mean?"

"Rumors said she was in a broadschool in Switzerland... but maybe she is back for Pickens Day."

She frowned, looking for her with another quick glance, feeling lucky she had not moved from her place. "I don't know, Jughead, She doesn't look like she's been in Switzerland... Unless European people aren't that much into eating, because she looks awful."

"She's awful inside so, maybe it got reflected on the outside too." 

"Shut up." She didn't know why she felt so offended when, truthfully, she couldn't say she knew her, or that at least they had a friendly relationship to begin with. "Tonight I had a nightmare, and she was on it. I don't understand why, or how, but I think it was a way of asking me for help."

"First of all, if you have Cheryl Blossom starring one of your nightmares, you take that as a warning. You should stay away from her, that family is pure tragedy." He took another bite of his corn, wiping his mouth with the back of his jacket sleve afterwards. "First his brother, then his father... Besides, Blossoms like to blame southsiders for all their problems. You don't want to get yourself involved in one of their drama."

Toni could have answered him, but she didn't. She didn't care about all the warnings that Jughead's tainted mouth could make, since now the redhead had fully and absolutely captured her attention. And feeling like the thrid wheel in such an intense moment, so much that it made him feel uncomfortable; the Jones kid decided to leave them, for what he believed, undressing each other with their eyes.

However, that wasn't the intention of either of them.

She felt Cheryl's dark eyes digging into her, asking her a silent and unknown question, one for which Toni had no answer. She didn't know the reasons why she'd want to meet her gaze, but did know that she wasn't able to divert hers once they entered a vicious circle, to which nobody else around them had access.

The redhead took the candy apple with which she played on her fingers, just on the edge of her plump lips. She took a bite, one that left the mark of her lipstick on the the sweetened fruit's polished skin. And almost feeling her teeth digging into her dermis, working their way into her veins; Toni brought her hand to her neck, looking for the marks that the opposite didn't left before. She stroked her throat with her thumb, feeling how the temperature of her body was flaring and burning each of her limbs, just when the younger Blossom offered her a malicious yet conscious grin.

Topaz swallowed heavily, just like she did every time in her dreams.

She wanted to run to her and catch her in her arms, but she was paralyzed. Her beauty was even more stunning in reality, than in her dreams. But deep down, her instincts were screaming at her to go after her, protect her from all the evil she was going through.

It was an odd, supernatural sensation.

A physical need that wanted to be fulfilled, and completely lacked rational explanation. One that neither of them dared to fulfill, fearing they would fade away like the nightmares that, although Toni didn't know about it yet, both had.

Cheryl had been looking for her all this time.

**Author's Note:**

> i'll write the second part soon, in which everything will be connected and explain better. please stay tunned lol


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